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Burtek looks to add customers with Votaw, begin hiring

Burtek Enterprises Inc., the Chesterfield Township-based defense and aerospace contractor bought out of receivership by Wynnchurch Capital Partners LP two years ago, is looking for overlapping business with new affiliate Votaw Precision Technologies Inc. — and could be hiring again soon.

Burtek last week announced that local platform company Burtek Holdings Inc., formed when Wynnchurch Capital bought the assets of Burtek Inc. out of receivership in 2012, has also acquired Santa Fe Springs, Calif.-based Votaw. Terms were not disclosed.

"This is part of a longer-term strategy that bringing the two companies together, we can offer the capabilities of both companies to each other's customers," Burtek CEO Jeff Daniel told Crain's.

Wynnchurch, a Rosemont, Ill., private equity firm with offices in Bloomfield Hills, acquired Burtek Inc.'s assets for $9 million after several months in receivership. Since then, Burtek has added at least 33 new customers on a strategy of diversifying outside of defense into the aerospace and energy industries, Daniel said.

New customers since 2012 have included Spirit Aerostructures, Siemens AG and Mitsubishi International Corp. The growth has allowed Burtek to maintain revenue and approximately 140 employees in Chesterfield as defense budgets shrank amid federal budget sequestration, Daniel said. New customers could account for 30 percent of total revenue in 2014.

"And that's just organic growth, outside of any opportunities from the Votaw acquisition," he said. "We have done that by diversification, and our backlog is now the largest it's been in three years."

As a result, Daniel said, Burtek expects to start hiring again by the third or fourth quarter this year for skilled trades, machining, welding and other employees. Votaw does significant business in spaceflight hardware, he said, although several of its engineered product lines "complement" Burtek.

"This combination brings together over 70 years of experience, customer focus and performance excellence," Wynnchurch Managing Partner Terry Theodore said in a statement.

Burtek reported annual revenue of $45 million and 214 workers before a committee of banks led by Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank NA with $13.9 million of combined debt sought a receiver in federal court. The Votaw acquisition closed April 30.